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Kumogakure launches its own attack on one of the bases, information courtesy of Sachiko and the Kuroki she was able to talk to.

Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.

"Todas Las Personas - Base Invaders (Part 1)"

Land of Lightning

After the unexpected attack against Kumogakure much time had been taken to work on the Village and assist not only with the survivors and wounded, but also the dead. Many nights had been the time for prayers followed by a body burning and sometimes even multiple bodies at once for families. Or those lacking families. After the dead had been taken care of everyone's full attention had turned to rebuilding. It was a moderately paced process as the most important buildings were put back up first, follows by the less important and on down the line. There is still a number of buildings yet to be put up once again, but the focus of many of the shinobi had switched elsewhere.
Sachiko had taken the young Kuroki and fled with her, surprising many within the village since she'd kept another shinobi from striking a final, fatal blow. Who's to say what happened when the teen was gone with Raikage's beloved. However they had returned together within a few days time with some information. The Kuroki did not like that the group had tried to kill her and use her as a sacrifice and she was done with killing. Her entire life since she was a young child had been under this group and they had manipulated her since she was three. Thinking back, she'd believed her past to be true, but after examining it things seem to not be so simple. It's why she offered her own services. For a price, of course. The price wasn't as steep as one might expect. She wants to live a normal life, and in exchange she will give all the information she knows. Sachiko had taken the girl up on the offer.
With this new source of information they soon discovered some rather important things. While she hadn't met the leader of the overall group, she did have information on where her base had been and those remaining within it. Not trusting her to be entirely truthful, Yori and some others had gone out to investigate the location. They found it exactly as she'd said. Research was done on the rest of the information and she had told the truth on everything thus far. Within the base remained fifty men. Besides those fifty there were three more from a shinobi clan: Saito Garan, the leader of this location; Nara Lisa, the assistant to the leader and in charge of training; and Amaro Tsujin, another teen who assisted the other two as required. The time to strike had been decided. A map of the base had been drawn up with most of it an underground cave system. Night time was decided to decrease the effectiveness of a Nara should they be outside. And the team? There were multiple. Of course the important PC's are on one team, while the other two have an equal number of people in them to both clear out the fifty people and make sure none escape. So now, with the new moon black overhead, the teams gather at the gates and await the Raikage's word to move out. And anything inspirational he might have to say.

He had been waiting for the information from the girl to pan out. Once the intelligence division ascertained that her information was spot on, Hiei wasted no time in assembling two teams for the assault. He had decided to lead the first team himself and had dressed the part. He is clad in matte black body armor, no parts of his skin is visible except the part of his face that is exposed. A mask covers the lower part of his face and his long white hair is tied back into a ponytail. His swords are belted at his waist and he wears a bandolier full of kunai.
When people begin to arrive at the gate, Hiei is standing there along with Seer, his goat partner. Once everyone has arrived, he begins the debriefing. "Thanks to Sachiko, we now know where a base of these…individuals are. We still don't know what they call themselves, and frankly, I don't give a quarter. This time, instead of them attacking our home, we get to hit theirs. I'm told we'll be facing a Saito, a Nara, and an Amaro. Prepare yourselves to deal with their jutsu." Lightning flows around his body as he speaks, he's wasting no time in preparing his body for combat. "I'm saying this before we leave. We are NOT taking prisoners. We are NOT going to show mercy. Too many of our own died in their last attack. It's time we allow them to feel that same pain. If this is too hardcore for some of you, then I will relieve you of duty, and you can remain behind. Does anyone have any comments on what I've just covered?"
Seer steps up and dips his head low. "Hello everyone, it's good to see you all again. I promise to do my best to assist you in this mission." After greeting the group, the goat steps back a few paces and his horns glow as he channels his own chakra to prepare it for use.

Michiko was just recovering from her match with Kasuya when the girl heard that Sachiko was able to get some information from one of the last attackers. She and Yori had, assumedly, worked together to figure everything out. At the moment, she's standing near Hiei, thinking over the map of the compound they had laid out. She wants to make sure she has it memorized, even if it doesn't happen to match up with what they actually find. The plan just continues to roll through her mind, along with various doubts and suppositions that really won't help anyone at all. So she shoves them out of her mind just as Hiei finishes talking.
"Hai, Hiei-san," Michiko says evenly, making a few handseals. The girl summons a white fox that gathers around her neck, then she begins to gather natural energy to her. "Hmm… I hope everyone knows what the targets are, but the Nara control shadows. And the Amaro use steel cloth. Be careful when facing the Nara, as he can make you turn on your friends." With that advice said, she quiets.
A few murmured words to the fox on her shoulder would tell it to hold onto the energy until they reached the entrance of the compound. The fox nodded once, then henge-d into a convenient scarf-form. All the better, no? Michiko can't help but want to summon Kimura, but that would be a bit too much for various reasons, she felt. And she wanted to keep that ace up her sleeve…

Hanami met up with the others at the gate once the summons had gone out. She was more than willing to dish out some payback. She didn't want these people out there harming more villages and killing people. Regardless of their ideals this was wrong. No different than a bunch of despicable bandits. And she wasn't sympathetic to bandits one bit. Her chakrams had been sharpened and kept ready in hopes that they'd get some good information and it seems to have finally happened. So she gives Hiei a quiet nod and Seer a small but friendly smile at his greeting, "Hello there Seer, I look forward to working with you again as well. I know everyone here is prepared to do their best." She does some quick stretches in anticipation of moving out.

"Someone is all fired up." Furoo grins even as she spins one of her half-staffs around in one hand. THe wooden one flips this way and that as she looks at the weapon. She grins, "Fierce." She then stops the spin and puts it to her shoulder, tapping it lightly. She then glances over at Michiko before she hmms. Furoo looks at the area before her before shrugging and sliding her staff into its slot on her back. She then considers, "This sounds exciting. I hope one of them can at least try to keep up. Maybe just maybe they'll let me kill them this time. These people are inconsiderate."

The truth of the matter was, Sachiko had come back without the girl in tow at first and asked to speak to Hiei immediately. She'd told him what happened. Her original plan of infiltrating the group had smoldered quickly after talking to the girl, but the redhead was apparently pretty good at speaking. The two had many conversations and Sachiko felt she could be trusted, but she must be allowed a place in Kumogakure. A place Sachiko herself was more than willing to provide, if necessary, even if Hiei didn't like it. Having warned Mena to be careful about how she acted around the guards, who she knew would be quick to bring her to prison if she showed any small sign she couldn't be trusted, Sachiko knew she had to be on this mission to the base.
The important thing, to her, was finding out if they could find the other bases through this one. Maybe a map or notes or… something. She'd already begun to prepare to scour the whole place, dozens of sentries already created and just… hidden away on her person (and maybe a few extra on Hiei as well). As she hears her husband say 'no prisoners', she gazes at him levelly and waits. "I'm going to do my best to find out if we can pin-point other bases… but if I can't, and I mean no disrespect, I think we should /try/ to take the leader. I presume he is most likely to know where other bases are, if anyone does. Certainly this will be difficult, but… taking out one base isn't going to stop them and /she/ doesn't know where any others are." There's no doubt in Sachiko's voice. It seems, whatever happened during those few days she was gone, made her truly trust the Kuroki.

So they've all assembled, and Kasuya came earlier than any of them. She already has her gear ready to go, and all her wounds from her recent spar with Michiko have healed. There's a dark, almost hungry look in her eyes. She looks from one face to the other, as if deeply committing each comrade to memory. She doesn't speak much, or at all, as Hiei briefs them on the mission. It seems their final goal is destruction.
She doesn't question that, but she does say, "It doesn't sound like they are affiliated with any village. And as far as I know, Amaro don't have any strong allegiance in any nation." After that she checks that she's ready and would fall in line on their departure.

When the orders came down the pipeline Rise heeded them without question or hesitation. She owed the Raikage no less, and… And anything else did not matter. Rise arrives at the gates bearing a muted version of the bare essentials on hand. The rest was sealed in scrolls, and set aside in her back up pouch for safekeeping. After what happened on her last official mission it felt only right. Seeing the way Hiei and some of the others gathered about had only reaffirmed the feeling.
Beyond a polite bow to her superiors, Rise did not offer much more for the debriefing. As far as she was concern, a grunt is meant to listen, obey, and not stand out more than necessary. To that end, she even went as far as staying near the edge of the group, listening and watching intently.

COMBAT: Hiei focuses 3568 stamina to turn it into 5000 usable chakra!

Hiei looks over at Sachiko, his voice distorted slightly from the mask he wears. "Acceptable. Sachiko, you and Hanami are in charge of ransacking the base for information once we infiltrate. Seer will go with you for added strength, should you need it." His eyes move over the group. "If we can take the leader, fine. But we know they try to kill themselves if they think they might be captured. We may not be successful. If it means that any of you come to bodily harm, screw him. Take him out." As Hiei speaks, his horse Snake Eyes is led out of the stable fully armored with his barding. Hiei climbs up into the saddle and then says, "Let's move out." He spurs the horse on towards their destination.
Seer nods at Hiei's command and then moves to stand close to Sachiko and Hanami. When the Raikage gives the order to leave, he trots along with the two kunoichi, silent for the time being as he focuses on the mission ahead.

Michiko nods lightly in greeting to everyone as they come along. Roadblock, her own horse that is comparatively smaller than Snake Eyes because the Iwata is just… short… wanders over to his rider and she climbs aboard with ease. "Rise-san, you and Furoo-san try to work together. I think it'd be best if we worked in pairs, personally. Watch each other's backs. And watch for suicide-bombs. We know they're not afraid to use them." She grimaces, then Spurs her horse onward to follow Hiei.

Hanami looks at the others, most she recognizes but gives everyone a nod in greeting. When Hiei assigns her with Sachiko she gives the woman a small smile, "I hope we turn up something useful then." She then moves off to the side to take a horse she had hastily arranged to borrow. Muttering about riding training a bit as she climbs up into the saddle. "If it comes to capturing anyone as mentioned, they like using explosive tags to blow themselves up. Make sure to immobilize then thoroughly search them. Sachiko and I were about to capture one person awhile back when I immobilized him then the two of us stripped him to make sure he had no tags. Sound silly, but it worked." She shrugs, then would likely move her horse by Sachiko when they move out.

A grin and Furoo vanishes to appear by Rise in a burst of speed. She grins as she glances at Rise before she idly leans on to her unless stopped, "This sounds like a great deal of fun. You seem like a fun one to run off with. We can beat up people, have a snack, beat some more people up and…wait…" She glances at Hanami before looking back to Rise, "We get to beat people up and strip them?! Well, this just became a real party." She chuckles to herself, "This does look like it's turning to be a good day."

Sachiko turns her attention to Hanami and nods her head. She was hopeful they'd find /something/, just anything to help them find another base. In conjunction to both Michiko's and Hanami's points, she says, "Makes working in pairs an even better idea. One can stun, the other can search." She takes a glance at Furoo and refocuses on her… uh, partner, Rise, and just gives the latter a reassuring, friendly nod. Mounting up, she follows after Hiei, keeping with Hanami and Seer. "Seer-san, it's nice to see you again. Sorry I didn't say it before. Lots on my mind, after all…"

Kasuya does acknowledge each person with a nod, if they look her way. She listens closely, even to the instructions of the people who are being separated into teams. It's essential to know where each person will be. Kasuya leads her own horse out, a dark horse with a slightly lighter mane. She swings up easily into the saddle, and strokes its mane for a moment. She's a fair enough rider. She keeps pace instead of pulling ahead. She shakes her head. "Keeping one alive," she says. "That ought to be interesting." She doesn't sound playful though.

Rise inclines her head to Hiei. Restraint wasn't exactly her strong suit to begin with, so the order was mroe of a boon than blessing. She starts, then looks up sharply to Michiko. Before she can so much as get a word in edgewise, Furoo is at her side, leaning on her…
She didn't know how to feel about that if the blank look given is any clue. She bowed under the new found weight as well, but straightened out quickly without shrugging Furoo completely. After a moment's pause, Rise looks away and says, "I do not believe Hiei-dono would condone cannibalism, Furoo-sama." She says in a matter of fact kind of tone. As for Sachiko, only a confused look is all that she is briefly awarded with before Rise's attention is back on Furoo. "That reminds me, am I to be your horse, Furoo-sama?" She asks.

Despite the dark moon-less night the trail to the base had been well mapped and planned ahead of time. Most of the trip would be via a main road, making it easy for the horses to get along without fouling things up. By the time they left the road a few hours out, they would find another path that was mapped out. It had also been cleared of obstructions just the day before to make the travel for the horses much better. It would be hard enough to see without having to worry about one of the horses breaking their legs. The secondary team of random shinobi is following along behind the more important real live shinobi, taking things slowly and carefully.
Yori had marked on the map where they would leave their horses and they would find prepared, under some brush that looked very naturally placed, a picket line. For any of the horses who aren't so well trained and might run away when the rider goes bye bye. The picket line was set up a half mile from the base itself which gives the Kumo nin plenty of area to move around on their way to the base. They could also come from different directions if they so desired. Or just straight up go in the front door. Regardless, the distance gave them a little time to make the decision based on what was currently going on. Always gotta think ahead. Hiei and Michiko would know that there were two patrols of two people that walked around about an eighth of a mile from the base, and then there were four guards the were somewhere around the entrance itself. These four tended to try and remain hidden so on the rare chance someone passed by it wouldn't be obvious that the cave mouth was anything behind a normal, empty cave mouth. It was, after all, one of many that littered that area in general.

Hiei rides in silence for the most part. He needed the quiet to push down the dark emotions that run rampant in him right now. That last attack on Kumo was his breaking point, and he was going to bathe in blood before this was all over. When they reach the checkpoint, he lifts a closed fist in the air indicating for the party of shinobi to stop. He pats the side of Snake Eyes' neck and then dismounts. The warhorse knew that signal meant for him to get far away from his rider. The horse moves away from Hiei, back a little the way they came. He would wait for Hiei to whistle for him before he would move very far. Hiei takes a moment to check out the scene before him while stretching his senses in an effort to tell where the highest concentration of chakra was. He speaks quietly to the rest of the team. "Sachiko, place your sentries on the outside. Rise and Furoo, take care of the outer guards. Kasuya, Michiko, you're with me. Hanami, go with Sachiko. Once you're done with the sentries, take out the guards closest to the entrance. Once we hit the door, Kasuya, Michiko and I will clear a path. Once we're inside, Sachiko, Seer, and Hanami will break off to look for anything that might be useful. The rest of us will take out the higest ranking members while the second team will clean up the riff-raff that's left. Move out. Be quick, and be silent."

RPCOMBAT: Hiei defends against with a PERCEPTION-III…52
RPCOMBAT: Hiei defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSITIVITY…40
RP: Michiko transforms into IMPERFECT-SAGE-MODE-FOX.
RPCOMBAT: Michiko defends against with a TREMOR-SENSE-II…85
RPCOMBAT: Michiko defends against with a PERCEPTION…52

Michiko hops off Roadblock when she should, landing softly on the ground. Once she touches the ground, it's almost like she transforms suddenly. Well, that's pretty true. She has two fox ears sticking out from her head and a fox tail flowing behind her. The girl was, now, a fox sage, and she wasn't afraid to use the abilities associated. Until they weren't needed… She didn't lose anything by entering the form so early, either. In fact, most of her senses are heightened. She can see a bit better in the dark now, and the girl takes the opportunity to look around while making sure the guards they had mapped out are all in their proper spots. And making sure the troops on their own side are positioned.
"Everyone seems ready, Hiei-san," she reports after a few minutes. The NPC Kumo-nin were ready. And by the looks of it, so were the people she was working with. Michiko nods lightly to Hiei's instructions. "Be careful, everyone," she says, taking a breath to keep herself in her spot. She couldn't bolt in right away. She had to wait, even though she really wants to destroy the people in this compound. They had destroyed a lot of Kumogakure, and she would ensure that these head-honchos were punished thoroughly… Whatever that means for her!

Hanami pickets her horse, checking her gear as she scopes the area around them by extending her senses onto the wind. She listens to Hiei outline the plan and keeps by Sachiko giving a little nod but otherwise following orders and staying silent as she waited for the sentries to be taken out while they move in. They would pay. She draws the wind chakra inside her, feeling herself lighter and quicker of movement. The air seems to stir around her faintly.

RP: Hanami transforms into BREEZE.

A blink as Furoo looks right at Rise. She then stares for a moment, "That went real dark and then went another way real quick." She laughs, "We'll talk more on that another time." She laughs a little before looking over to the horses and heading that way. She hops on one and then rushes off with the others. She rides along at a good clip till she reaches the point, she hops off her horse and peers at the instructions before she glances to Furoo and grins, "Wnat to do this quick sneaky or quick rushy?" She hmms and then shrugs even as she seems to let her chakra flow out through her limbs, practically seeming to shimmer just a little as she stands there, "I'm ready when you are."

RP: Furoo transforms into REIZEI-BLUR.

While Sachiko can absolutely understand the eagerness to destroy the compound and this group of merciless anti-shinobi individuals… she can't help but feel an ache deep in her heart. This was what this group thrived on. They were being precisely what these people expected of shinobi: bloodthirsty. Unforgiving. Killers. She dismounts and stands there for a moment, gazing at the building they are to attack, and gulps before eyes, ears, noses, and even tongues flee her clothing and spread out as quickly as possible. The Iga may have convinced Mena of the error of her ways… but it seemed like the opposite was happening, too. She takes a deep breath and focuses her attention on her sentries, true eyes closed.

RPCOMBAT: Sachiko defends against with a FOCUSED-SENSORY-ARRAY…41

Kasuya is tempted to spur the whole party forward, and she actually breathes a sigh of relief when she sees the picket line. "This is well arranged," she murmurs, as she puts up the horses with the rest of them. She looks towards the direction of the compound, as they go over their different tasks, and she gives an approving nod. Despite her eagerness at the beginning she now looks calm, almost bored. She nods to Hiei and goes to group with him to enter the area.

"If… that is your wish." She says, sounding genuinely confused. Knowing that ruminating on the matter would have to wait, she takes off after the group without a horse. After her last trip with Hiei the woman no longer trusted any mount to bear her. Well, none except perhaps the Major or Minor. No matter how long the trip is, Rise hardly appears winded by it when the team finally arrives at their destination. The result no doubt of plenty of exercise, and no extra fatigue from the day's activities weighing her down! Heck, the trip actually helped get the chakra flowing nice and properly. "Whatever is best for you, Furoo-sama." Rise replies, offering a bright, plastic smile.

COMBAT: Rise focuses 1423 stamina to turn it into 1500 usable chakra!

As the Kumo nin get closer to the cave mouth that leads to the base it would become quickly obvious that all the information they'd been given is quite correct. Michiko would feel the footsteps of the patrols as they went along their designated routes just a little ways ahead of where the shinobi are now. Hiei's chakra sensitivity would show the Raikage where the four folks are hiding at the entrace to the base, having taken up spots in the brush nearby on either side of the cave mouth. Near the edge of Hiei's chakra sensory he would pick up a few faint signatures along with one that could only be considered a mild signature. Also within the base Michiko would be able to sense all the various footsteps, perhaps a dozen or so moving within without much else, signifying that the majority of the group are likely asleep within. Sachiko's ears would pick up some snickering and quiet talk between two of the people on one of the patrols as well as the sound of foxes banging nearby.

Hiei had already given out his orders. While they go take care of their respective assignments, he hangs back for the moment to allow them to finish up. He would wait until the guards started to get taken out before he could concentrate as an aura of bright blue surrounds his body. Moving into the upper tier of Yotsuki nintaijutsu, his muscles would expand to twice their normal size underneath his armor before he begins to make his way towards the mouth of the cave. He seems to be taking his time, mostly to allow the rest of the team to do their respective jobs. He keeps himself on the alert, just in case there are any surprises that they may not have been told about.

RP: Hiei transforms into LIGHTNING-DYNAMIC.
RPCOMBAT: Hiei defends against with a PERCEPTION-III…70

Seer moves away from the group along with Sachiko and Hanami. His cloven hooves make little noise as he slinks along with the kunoichi, trying his best to be quiet. However, this is one of those times that having white fur isn't good, so he henges himself that his coat is solid black. While Sachiko sets her sentries, the battle goat goes ahead and focuses on one of the guards. He protects a genjutsu of the other guard turning on him all of a sudden. A betrayal of trust perhaps.

Michiko waits, telling Hiei and Sachiko (via her sentries) all that she can sense. Most were asleep. The guards were in place. Sachiko would hopefully alert Hanami, and Furoo, Kasuya, and Rise would be able to hear her as well. Her ears twitch a bit to try and detect sounds, but she waits for the signal to move in… Or should she say move out? Her senses continue to ping around and make sure everything is going according to plan…

RPCOMBAT: Michiko defends against with a TREMOR-SENSE-II…88

Hanami moves along quietly with the others till they start to split up to take on their various tasks. While Sachiko is setting up her sentries Seer moves up to the guard and she follows along to try and take out the other one. She lets her chakram fly with a quiet whish through the air, running after the blade to catch it and then twist to bring the blade back and strike again if needed. If not she'll simple catch her chakram and make sure the guard is down, also cautious of any traps upon the body.

RPCOMBAT: Hanami defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSITIVITY…41

A wide grin at Rise and then she nods, "Easier for me is what I wanted to do in the first place." She chuckles, "I'm gonna rush in and break one really hard." She opens her hands wise and then closes her fingers into fists before opening her hands again, "I haven't gotten to do this yet in open battle. It ought to be fun…or horrible." She shrugs and chuckles, "Fun either way though." She then looks to Rise, "For me and you that is. For the person I'm about to do this to they're going to so not have any fun." She then looks forward grinning again. She waits till the guards are properly in sight and then rushes off at incredible speed. She actually rushes by one of the guards, metal half staff attempting to give a balance destroying whack to one of the guard's shins before she'll very literaly do a fast 180, dart right back for that same guard. She will leap up, chakra flowing through the staff to extend it into its full length as she aims it right for the middle of the guard's back, attempting to smash him face first into the ground and turn him into a point she can polevault off of, flipping in the air to land in a crouch as her staff shrinks back to is half length.

Sachiko doesn't notice anything particularly of use, but she relays the information that the Iwata shares to anyone near her, as quietly as possible. She goes with the group, but she's really just following. Her attention is focused on her sensors still, though, trying to find anything she can. In the dark, she doesn't think her hawk eyes will help much, if at all. Plus, right now, she doesn't feel like she wants to do well. She's on autopilot for the most part, doing what she knows is expected. She avoids watching the attack Hanami launches, thankfully not really able to see what Seer himself did.

RPCOMBAT: Sachiko defends against with a FOCUSED-SENSORY-ARRAY…45

Kasuya closes her eyes as if in deep concentration, for just a moment. That's about the only sign she's altered in any visible way. She keeps herself back and partially concealed, waiting for the signal to attack. So far there haven't been any cries of alarm, which means their presence has yet to be revealed. She carefully feels out for any large chakra sources nearby. She rubs her hands together just as the attacks begin.

RP: Kasuya transforms into MIND-RUSH.
RPCOMBAT: Kasuya defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSITIVITY…65

Rise is less than elegant with her approach. Once Furoo rushed off, the woman is hot on her heels. What she lacked in blood the Shirokiri more than made up for in hardwork in dedication. Her intended prey — the one that more than likely just caught a glimpse of Furoo — would only have an extra split second to ask the all too important question of 'what the @#$% just happened' before feeling skin and muscle peel away from his cheeks.
With the first gate bolstering her, Rise's attack is more than just blinding. Fist, knees, shins, and even her forehead at one point is mixed into a flurry of attacks meant as much as to break the man down as they were to mask attempts at picking apart his person for any explosive decives.

RP: Rise transforms into GATE-OF-OPENING.

COMBAT: Canis defends against DIE-FOR-ME(40) attack from Seer with a TENSE…13
COMBAT: Canis defends against WIND-SHARP(33) attack from Hanami with a TENSE…4
COMBAT: Canis loses the roll and sustains 474 damage.
COMBAT: Canis defends against LESSER-WIND-SLASH(28) attack from Hanami with a TENSE…5
COMBAT: Canis loses the roll and sustains 412 damage.
COMBAT: Canis defends against SWIFT-SLAM(48) attack from Furoo with a TENSE…6
COMBAT: Canis loses the roll and sustains 940 damage.
COMBAT: Canis defends against DYNAMIC-ACTION(70) attack from Rise with a TENSE…10
COMBAT: Canis loses the roll and sustains 953 damage.

All kinds of excitement happens all kinds of quickly! Seer's genjutsu easily effects one of the men and, after punching his patrol partner in the face thinking he's a demon of some sort, he starts to run off and away from the base! Luckily his fear keeps him from screaming or the whole place would've been alerted. Instead he just runs in silence, hoping that the evil creatures won't be able to catch up to him. The man he'd punched thinks that he's had the worst of it, but he's wrong. After touching the blood dribbling from his nose he turns to look where his partner ran off to only to have a wind reinforced chakram slice through his neck and take his head clean off. Whatever silent ways the other two had used, apparently Furoo doesn't subscribe to. While her attack was brutally effecient in breaking the man in two pieces it was also quite noisy slamming someone into the ground and turning them into a puddle of goo. Rise's attack also doesn't exactly contribute to the whole 'quiet' side of things since each time a body part connects the man 'oofs' and 'arghs' and there's also the sound of flesh hitting flesh, bones breaking, and…just all around ouchiness.
Yet, thanks to the dark of the new moon, the guards at the cave mouth do no more than make themselves seen. They may have heard the sounds, but they can't see anything beyond what's right in front of them. "Hey, you guys okay? Someone answer me now before I go get the boss!"
As for all those perceptions…Michiko would still sense about a half dozen people walking around below. Uh, not too much to add to that. Those checking for chakra would notice, as they got closer, a few brighter spots amidst all the dim ones, with Kasuya able to easily see what must be the three that Mena had mentioned. They aren't close to each other and in fact seem to be in their own seperate areas. As Sachiko's eyes and ears snuck their way into the cave mouth they would be able to tell rather immediate that the information Mena had given was pretty much spot on as far as how the cave looked as the various exits from the entry area.

Hiei crouches slightly, frowning a little when he can obviously hear Rise and Furoo breaking bones. The cave guards, however, were in danger of messing up the entire operation. It's then that the Raikage moves into action. Drawing only one sword, he moves swiftly and quietly, the only sound that is heard is the sound of his blade moving through the air, as he vanishes and then re-appears on the other side of the guards. He slowly slides his blade into it's sheath, and that's about the time they realize that they may have just been attacked.
With the man running away, Seer's eyes are actually very good in low light condition. So he channels his chakra and then stomps on the ground gently as a section of earth rises out of the ground in front of the man and attempt to smack him in the face, hopefully that will not only keep him silent, but take him out of the fight altogether.

Michiko watches Hiei disappear. She can feel him moving, though barely, and then she's gone. The girl had moved that much closer so she could watch the bodies thud against the ground. Though they don't make a sound when they do land, as the girl had softened the ground to make their death even less noticeable. The softened ground would absorb the bodies and just… wipe all trace of them from the earth, it seemed! Well… Those two. The other two guards would find themselves with their throats cut by an invisible blade, courtesy of the Iwata.

Hanami wipes her blade on the grass, honestly a bit surprised. She hadn't intended for quite that strong of an attack… But what done is done. Seer seems to have the other one under wraps so she drags the body into the nearest bushes, followed by the head. Pointless probably but oh well. Once done she'll look to Sachiko and quietly says, "I was thinking, maybe we should try to find the Nara? I mean Nara are generally considered pretty smart right? Not that it'd be easy, but if we can get info from that one…" she shrugs, "Though I'm game with whatever plan you have." She looks toward the cave entrance as Hiei and Michiko go to work and keeps her senses open.

RPCOMBAT: Hanami defends against with a AIR-CURRENTS…29
RPCOMBAT: Hanami defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSITIVITY…36

Grinning as she looks to Rise, Furoo whistles as Hiei flies by, "The quick and the dead." She walks in and looks to the two guys just hit by Hiei and leans toward them, "This is the part where you fall down." She chuckles and then watches them fall into the ground before she looks over to Michiko. Idly, she spins her metal half-staff and then grins as she looks back to Rise, "Hey, if they get the Nara, does that mean we get the steal clothy guy or gal or whatever?" She then looks to Hiei a moment before looking back to Rise, "I don't know about you but I think it's about time to get into trouble, no?" She chuckles and starts moving in a bit slower, glancing around.

RPCOMBAT: Furoo defends against with a PERCEPTION-II…25

"It doesn't matter how smart they are, necessarily. What matters is the information they were given. In fact, smarter would make it more difficult for us to get information after capture," Sachiko responds quietly to Hanami. "Good thinking, though." She looks at the girl a little too hard, trying to focus her attention on something other than the dying guards at the cave entrance. Then she closes her eyes and lets out a breath slowly through her nose. This mission was to protect the villages these people killed mercilessly… She had to focus on that and not think about how much her chest ached still. Opening her eyes, she moves forward, sentries moving in to try and keep an eye — or an ear — out for those closest to the entrance.

RPCOMBAT: Sachiko defends against with a SENSORY-ARRAY…36

When her two comrades move forward, Kasuya follows as she gathers herself to bind one of them. They need a live prisoner, at least one. She's gathering her chakra as Michiko and Hiei rain down destruction, filling the air with flesh and blood. She pushes towards the four guards they'd attacked, and prepares to bind one of the live ones, only to be too late. There are no live ones, or ones in working order. "So much for a prisoner," she says, but she's suppressing a smirk. Maybe they'll find one later. Then her aura vanishes. In fact, she vanishes as she surrounds herself with an illusion. It's not a physical block, but a mental one she maintains around herself, so that anyone looking at her would have the strong urge not to see her. With that done she moves into the compound at speed, searching for new victims quietly but swiftly.

COMBAT: Kasuya attacks target 1 with FADE-II with a roll of: 64

Rise had admittedly begun to zone out around the time the fifth rib finally broke under her fist. Something about the sound of tearing flesh and snapping bone just felt calming to the Shirokiri. It is around the point that she had moved on to caving in the man's face with a fist filled with balled up explosive tags that the call from the other guards finally gets to her. Then, Hiei puts a quick end to them along with Michiko, settling things nicely!
"I… I… If that is your wish, Furoo-sama." Rise murmurs, releasing the body so that she could moving along besides Furoo.

RPCOMBAT: Rise defends against with a PERCEPTION-II…40
COMBAT: Canis defends against HYPER-SPEED-CHAIN-KILL(88) attack from Hiei with a TENSE…12
COMBAT: Canis loses the roll and sustains 1303 damage.
COMBAT: Canis defends against HYPER-SPEED-CHAIN-KILL(91) attack from Hiei with a TENSE…13
COMBAT: Canis loses the roll and sustains 1406 damage.
COMBAT: Canis defends against EARTH-HAMMER(40) attack from Seer with a TENSE…7
COMBAT: Canis loses the roll and sustains 702 damage.
COMBAT: Canis defends against WIND-SLICE(55) attack from Michiko with a TENSE…8
COMBAT: Canis loses the roll and sustains 930 damage.
COMBAT: Canis defends against WIND-SLICE(72) attack from Michiko with a TENSE…3
COMBAT: Canis loses the roll and sustains 1178 damage.

Seek and ye shall find. If you build it, he will come. Something like that. With the guards outside so easily dispatched it's time for the group to move indoors. Kasuya would be the first one down and would see four different paths branching off from this first big room. Three of those pathways lead further into the cave system and disappeared around a bend. One of them was apparently the mess hall, as a good dozen folks are hanging out, eating and drinking and chatting with one another as if they never had a worry in the world! Surely no one would attack this late right? And if they did then surely the guards would warn them. Right? Right??? As far as visual perception there isn't much to see at this point, yet this area matches what Mena had drawn up and given to Sachiko:
'The first tunnel leads to the three generals of the group and also Garan's sleeping quarters. He's the strongest. The second leads to some of the lieutenant's and also Lisa's room. She's Garan's right hand lady, but she's also weaker than he is. The third leads to where the rest of this group is housed along with Tsujin. He's about my age and not as strong as the other two. There's also a small fourth tunnel leading to the mess hall.'
So far her words have been true. What it comes down to is who will be assigned to each location. After, of course, they 'cleanse' the mess hall.
As for that mess outside? Well yeah, they're all dead. Except for the one that Seer knocked out. He's just chillin', ya know, and knocked out. Probably will be for a while. That's what happens when you run cranium first into a sudden stone wall…

From the information provided by Mena..who is more than likely going to be a house guest for awhile if Sachiko had anything to say about it, Hiei knew was where and he divided the team up accordingly. "Michiko, Kasuya and I will take on Garan. Rise and Furoo, you're assigned to Lisa. Sachiko and Hanami, take on Tsujin and then search the place to see if there's anything we can use." He looks at the goat. "Seer, incapacitate everyone in the mess hall." He then states. "Garan is the leader, and most likely to have information that the others don't. He's our priority for capture. The rest are fodder." His eyes take on a glow as the killing intent wafts off of him. "They had no mercy for the non-combatants of our village when they attacked us. I don't care about their cause. I don't care about what they /think/ they're fighting for. All I care about is revenge for what they did to our people and everyone that has been a casualty up to this point. Don't let their deaths be for nothing." With those final words, he turns to walk down the first tunnel.
Seer replies to Hiei. "I'll take care of it." The goat turns around and strides into the area where the people are gathered. Nobody really notices a goat walk in right? Well, that goat stomps his hoof on the ground and a swamp begins to form underneath the people sitting around. "No, no. Don't move on my account."

"Sachiko-san… Perhaps you can befriend the one you're about to face first. See if you can. Hai?" Michiko murmurs to her. She recalls that Mena had said that Tsujin was about her age… So maybe the Amaro would be a bit more … flexible in his ideas. And would have more useful information. Stars know that they might not be able to take down their own enemy without a death… "Ganbatte, you two. Furoo-san, Rise-san… Just do your best." She smiles faintly, but it doesn't reach her eyes. Instead, she follows after Hiei, delving into the ground to travel, even. If there were less threats with Hiei, it might be a lot easier for them to take this 'Garan' down.

Hanami listens to how the area is broken up and the pairs are assigned. Then Seer moves off to take care of the mess hall so leaving the others to their business she turns to Sachiko, "Okay, so what's the plan? Guess we probably have to go see what we're dealing with huh? And I guess you're right about the Nara, not that it matters anyhow but hey, I'm with you. On finding information, we need to know all we can about these guys. I can tell this hasn't been easy for you, but these people…well look. We just need to focus on our mission and get what we can, okay?" She's trying. And she still has a cold spot for these people but…well anyhow she moves to the third tunnel and casts her senses out on the wind as she raises a hand to the others quietly.

RPCOMBAT: Hanami defends against with a AIR-CURRENTS…30
RPCOMBAT: Hanami defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSITIVITY…31

Glancing in the direction of the first tunnel and then the second and then the third and then the fourth…Furoo seems to look at each and scratch her head. She seems unsure of things until finally Hiei speaks up and she hmms. She glances at him and then grins wide, "You got it." She gives a thumbs up even as she watches the goat go, "That is still strange to watch." She chuckles and then looks back at Rise, "Perhaps we can try all silent this time, what ya think?" She then looks to Michiko as she speaks to Sachiko. She chuckles a little to herself before vanishing into a silent quick step down the hallway to try to move fast and quiet into the area where there is supposedly a Nara.

Sachiko listens to her husband and can only grit her teeth and stand there, steeling herself to not say or do anything stupid. Why was she here again? Why was she even in Kumogakure? More precisely, why had she wanted to become a Genin again? As Michiko speaks, she nods faintly, but still does not quite move. It's Hanami that gets a true peek at the turmoil in Sachiko's head. "These /people/ are just that: PEOPLE. Why do you fight for Kumogakure? Why are you a shinobi? You have your reasons or are you just following in footsteps? Just doing what you're told? These people are doing this because they believe it's right, just like you believe fighting for your village is right. I can only guess that the vast majority of these people had loved ones die at the hands of shinobi, probably Kumogakure shinobi." She closes her eyes only a moment, remembering Mena… and her doubts about the girl's past. "Never mind… Let's go," she utters sharply. The redhead was just suffering from too much empathy. It's what made her the person she is… and she had to decide if that was worth sacrificing to stand by Hiei. She shifts, moving down the hall and starting to toss her extra sensory organs down the hall to help her make sure they knew when others were coming.

RPCOMBAT: Sachiko defends against with a FOCUSED-SENSORY-ARRAY…50

Kasuya creeps into the mess hall and considers the situation. Maybe this isn't the best situation for her, and just then Hiei gives the order for a goat to subdue them all. And it's actually doing quite the number on them. She gives a slight shrug and says, "I'm still following." Since she isn't visible she'd seem like a voice in the air. "We kill him regardless, yes?" she says. Though she wouldn't respond to his answer either way and starts down the hall at speed. She's not above finding him and stabbing him in the back if she gets a chance. It'd be a quicker death than he deserved, but he'll be a corpse by the end either way. As she moves down she keeps out a sharp eye and ear for any unexpected obstacles. But from what she sensed, there's few besides him.

A faint, but for once, genuine smiles plays at Rise's lips. A moment of weakness he would later blame on Hiei. She knew they were hardly better than the prey, or any other murderer or mercenary for that matter, so — Rise shakes her head for the second time before finally following along after Furoo. Whereas Furoo relied on haste, the Shirokiri turned to the more mundane; such as simply stepping lightly. The quiet in time opened her mind back up to trouble. Try as she might, she can't fully ignore it.
Nevertheless, she pressed forward with the mission without voicing a word of complaint.

COMBAT: Canis defends against SWAMP-OF-THE-UNDERWORLD(73) attack from Seer with a TENSE…6
COMBAT: Canis defends against UNDERGROUND-FISH-PROJECTION(74) attack from Michiko with a TENSE…10
COMBAT: Canis defends against DASH-STEP-STEALTH(38) attack from Furoo with a TENSE…14
COMBAT: Canis defends against STEALTH-II(48) attack from Rise with a TENSE…12

These fine people were just having a late night snack and BSing in the mess hall. The last thing they expected was a goat to saunter in. What do you get when a goat walks into a mess hall? A floor of sticky mud apparently. At Seer's words men quickly stand and turn to face the goat in surprise, exchanging glances and stuff before they try to walk towards him but…it doesn't work. "Hey! What did you do?" "Ack!" "I knew we should've brought our weapons JOHN!" "Hey don't get mad at me! Just find something!" And thus is the story of how spoons and forks got thrown at Seer.
As for the others, each tunnel led deeper into different areas, all still matching exactly the map Mena had drawn. With the groups being split up by Hiei it was time to bring this branch of evil down. Each tunnel leads fairly deep and, thus far, there was nothing to be seen except for torches every now and then to light the way through the twists and turns.